FOUR MISSION ‘MYTHS’

In his remarks to trustees, Rankin said that before “fading away into the sunset” he intended to use his remaining board reports to review “where we are in our mission task, why we do what we do and the foundational principles of our mission.” He used the first such opportunity to confront four “prominent myths” that “create misinformation and distort perceptions” about IMB strategy and work:

-- “Evangelism and missions are one and the same.”

“One does not do missions without evangelism. Witnessing, winning and discipling people into the kingdom as Christ-followers is the heart of the mission,” Rankin stressed. But failing to understand the “subtle distinction” between the two leads many churches and Christians to conclude they are primarily responsible only for evangelizing the people who live right around them — or people around the world who are immediately responsive to the Gospel. It also leads to another assumption that has long hindered missions: Since salvation is the “sovereign work of God, we don’t need to be concerned about results.”

Such misunderstandings continue to lead many Christians to relinquish the mission task to “an elite few ministry professionals and missionaries who work on their behalf,” Rankin lamented. As for concentrating exclusively on responsive regions and peoples, he added, “we could probably double the number of reported baptisms each year by concentrating our missionary force in a handful of open and responsive countries, but that would hardly be fulfilling God’s mission, as it would result in multitudes never hearing the Gospel.”

-- “Church-planting movements are a humanly designed strategy to speed the completion of the Great Commission.”

The notion that authentic, rapidly growing church-planting movements — led by lay believers, often amid persecution — are just another mission program or strategy “is a blatant misrepresentation of the work of God,” Rankin charged.

“There will never be enough missionaries to reach the whole world. The only possibility of everyone having access to the Gospel is through a grass-roots network of indigenous, reproducing churches being planted in every community,” he said. “It is a matter of pride to assume that an almighty, sovereign God is dependent on the human instrumentality of educated, mature Western missionaries to teach and train and lead before [local believers are] qualified and capable of sharing their faith with another.

“I find it appalling that there are those who actually advocate slow growth, taking years to disciple new believers to maturity, requiring seminary training of leaders before they can pastor a church or share their faith. … Certainly training is valuable, and our reports reflect the priority that is being given with the number of those being trained [by IMB missionaries and their ministry partners] growing from 30,000 to more than 200,000 in the last decade. We believe in theological education. … But which church is healthier and more spiritually vital — the one reproducing and sharing their faith, or those which never start another church and see negligible numbers coming to Christ?”

-- “Our mission strategy of reaching all peoples is based on Matthew 24:14 and a desire to hasten the return of Christ.”

In Matthew 24:14, Jesus Christ declares that the Gospel “will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Reaching all peoples in order to hasten the end of the age, however, “has never been voiced or intimated by me or anyone responsible for strategic leadership at the International Mission Board,” Rankin stressed. “Yet it continues to be voiced by critics of our passionate devotion to what our Lord has mandated us to do. The time of our Lord’s return is in the Father’s hands, and we will do nothing to change that timeframe. We could never presume to interpret the Father’s criteria for what it means to fulfill the Great Commission. My frequent use of Matthew 24:14 is simply to glorify God that this prophecy is being fulfilled as the Gospel is being proclaimed among all peoples and nations.”

-- “Advocating a certain priority or objective nullifies or excludes others.”

Prime examples of this myth, Rankin noted, include the perceptions that because IMB missionaries focus on evangelism, reaching unreached peoples and partnering with Southern Baptist “mega churches,” they are no longer committed to theological training, medical and humanitarian work, aiding established churches in evangelized areas or working with smaller Southern Baptist churches to mobilize for missions.

“Such reasoning is illogical and so far from the truth as to be ludicrous — were it not representing the perception of so many, even among some of the ranks of our missionaries,” Rankin said. “It doesn’t seem to be simply a misunderstanding, but an intentional way of holding on to a narrow, personally convenient position. …

“We must realize there will always be critics and detractors,” Rankin concluded. “We must do a better job of communication. We need to be sympathetic and patient with those who resist change. We need to minister to those who are challenged and stressed by change. But we must not be deterred from moving forward in the task our Lord has committed to us.”

WorldView: The 'First Globals'

1/7/2010

Visit “WorldView Conversation,” the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com/

By Erich Bridges

Richmond, Va. (BP)--A father who lives down the street from me turned his small backyard into a state-of-the-art batting cage, complete with a high-velocity pitching machine, when his son was in elementary school.

The son practiced hitting for hours every day. He played high school baseball. Now he’s playing college ball. Just what Pop wanted.

I hope it’s what his son wanted.

We’ve all seen sports dads, stage moms and other victims of a condition I call “Hyperactive Parent Syndrome” living out their dreams through their kids. Maybe we’ve even been one of them.

We do it because we love our children, right? We’re involved in their lives because we care. We want to encourage them to develop their gifts and talents.

Involvement and encouragement are great. Manipulation isn’t.

I’m thinking about the difference a lot these days while trying to help my senior-high kids find the right college.

What is the point of going to college in the first place? To study the best our civilization has to offer, according to the classical ideal? To gain the knowledge and skills to launch a career? To earn more money?

Or to serve God with all one’s mind?

“What are your goals?” asks C.J. Mahaney, editor of Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World (Crossway, 2008). “Do they move you forward — to financial security, more friends, successful kids, a certain position at work, learning a craft or trade? Or do they drive you upward — to obeying and glorifying God above all else?”

There’s nothing wrong with helping a young person prepare to earn a living. But there’s more to life than earning a living, even in hard economic times. That’s what Jesus meant when He said we do not live by bread alone, but by the words of God.

We cannot force our children to serve the Lord. Neither should we unwittingly push them toward worldliness and materialism with the best intentions of helping them achieve “success” as defined by the world. Rather, we should model lives of love and service — and invite our children to join us in the great task of sharing the Gospel with lost and suffering people everywhere.

There’s plenty of data indicating they’re open to the invitation.

Pollster John Zogby has renamed the so-called Millennials (18- to 29-year-old Americans) the “First Globals.” They are “the most outward-looking and accepting generation in American history,” Zogby reports. “First Globals are also the most cosmopolitan age group in America, the most international, and the one most concerned about the environment and human rights.”

By and large, they’re comfortable with the different skin colors, cultures and languages they encounter every day. A fourth of them expect to live outside America at some point in their lives.

They sound like potential missionaries to me.

If your children fall into this age group or mindset, why not show them the unprecedented opportunities they have — not just to pursue a career, but to pursue the glory of God among the nations?

Living above the Line Sermon 5

Two Sides of the Cross, Christ Lives In You
1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,…. God abides in him, and he in God.

1) Christ Lives in You

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, comma…You know how many Christians sit on that comma. Some do for years, some do for ever. I did for 27 years. Then I experienced the other half of that verse, God abides in him, and he in God. Jesus said I AM the LIFE. I finally realized the LIFE had been residing in me all along. But I did not know it.

I have been talking a few weeks now about the two sides of the cross; the blood side and the body side. On the blood side, Jesus Christ died for our sins. Through His death we obtained forgiveness. On the body side of the cross, in the unseen and eternal realm, in our spirit, we experienced with Christ what He experienced; we died with Him and were raised with Him.
The past 3 weeks I have focused on the death aspect of the body side. We died on the cross with Christ. Our old self is dead, burred. We are dead to sin. We are dead to the law. We are dead to ourselves as a point of reference. The fact that we died is a foundational truth of the Christian life IN CHRIST.

But, if we only emphasis our death in Christ, we will never see what God purposed to be resurrected out of our death; what is that…it is LIFE! We can stand on the tomb and celebrated our death all day long and never, never ever, get on to living the life.

In Romans 6, Paul emphasized both our crucifixion and our resurrection with Christ.
Romans 6:4-5, 11 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. V. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

God raised our new man from the dead, and then God berthed in us an entirely new spirit, holy, and righteous, so that He could then unite Himself to our spirit and live His life through us. And whether we knew it or not, at our rebirth, Jesus came into us and we became one with Him. He now lives in and through us. Two sides of the cross; Blood, and Body, Christ died for us, Christ lives in us.

Now it is time for another trip. Last time 2000 years to the cross, this time 3400 years to the Exodus. God gave us a wonderful illustration of what IM trying to help you understand. We call it the Passover. In Exodus 12, before God sent the death angel to kill all the firstborn in Egypt, God told the Hebrew people to set apart a lamb from the flock, to kill it, and smear the blood on the doorposts of their dwellings. When God saw this blood, He would then Passover that house and spare the firstborn inside. The people had only to apply the blood to the doorposts.

This part of the Passover foretells the blood side of the cross. The lamb died for the household. The household did not participate in that death, because the lamb died for them. When they applied the blood to their doorposts, they escaped the wrath of God. The firstborn was sparred.
This parallel to the blood side of the cross is undeniable. Christ died for us. He shed His blood as payment for our sins, a satisfying sacrifice to the righteous judgment of God. When, by faith, we today apply Christ’s blood, His death, to our lives, we are spared the wrath of God upon us. Our sins are forgiven.

Now follow me. Let me ask you this. When the children of Israel were in captivity under Pharaoh, what country were they in. Where were they?...(Egypt.) And after they put the blood on the doorposts and the Lord passed over them, and the firstborn son was spared, what country were they in. …(Still Egypt.)

You know, as long as our revelatory knowledge is limited to the blood side of the cross, Christ died for us, we may still have our firstborn. That is our sins may be forgiven. But we still live in captivity experientially. We are still living as if we are the subjects of the Pharaoh of our life, in bondage. If I were to allow for the term Carnal Christian to be used, this would be my definition of one. A Christian, living in bondage to the ruler of this world, trying to overcome with one’s own efforts, trying to become spiritual. And what happens is, they think it sure is great to have my sins forgiven, but this captivity stuff sure takes the excitement out of it. They think I sure thought it would be different.

And God had a solution, then and now. The solution was to provide them with LIFE. To get them and us out of Egypt, He instructed each household to roast the lamb and eat it as nourishment for the journey ahead. This is the body side of the cross. You take the lamb, Jesus, into you as LIFE. God showed them and us today that the same lamb that provided the blood is to be eaten for the journey.

Everything that is necessary for living comes from the lamb. It is not that the lamb dies for you then you are sent out on your own to do the rest on your own, and not even that you do it with His help. The lamb is everything here. The lamb gave His blood for them and his life to them. They took its meat into them, and it became nourishment, strength, vitality for the long journey. They lived their life out of the lambs life. They walked in his energy. They killed one lamb for two purposes; the Passover and the walk.

Paul also calls the New Testament life a walk. What is the LIFE of that walk? Well it is not our trying to walk for God. It may look that way on the outside, but we have the Lamb of God in us. He is not only forgiveness of our sins. He is also the LIFE in us, from whom we make the journey.
One cross, two purposes, just like one lamb two purposes. God say’s “Take the blood and put it on your door. Take the meat and put it in your body. Put The LIFE in you. And unless you put the LIFE in you, you will always be operating in that realm of bondage. When you put the LIFE in you, you will be ready to live. You will be ready to start the journey.”

Christians can walk around for years with a sense of forgiveness, but absolutely no sense of LIFE. WE have the LIFE in us, but we do not know it. We try to generate the LIFE ourselves, but we are doomed to failure, because it is impossible for us to generate the LIFE. God is telling us, I will share my Glory with no man. Only I can live MY LIFE. But, …I will impart the LIFE to you. I will give you the LIFE. I will live it through you.”

This is why there is not anything beyond the grace of God, once it is understood, that is necessary for living the Christian LIFE. All you are ever going to need for LIFE is in the cross, ..that is both sides of the cross. It is all in Christ. And HE is in us.

The Apostle Paul wrote: Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. See, we were saved not just by Jesus’ death, but also by His LIFE. This is true eternally, above the line, but it is a truth here and now. We are saved by the Life of Christ that lives within us.

2) Not us, But Jesus In US

In the 6th chapter of Johns Gospel, Jesus feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. When he leaves the crowd goes after Him. They want more. He tells them, you did not see the miracle in the miracle. You saw the seen and temporary. You saw bread and fish multiplied. But you missed the unseen and eternal miracle. I AM the unseen and eternal miracle. See Jesus is not just a bread producer He is THE LIFE giver.

Later in John 6, He says “I AM the bread of life…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood; you have no life in yourselves. He who eats MY flesh and drinks MY blood has eternal life.”

We, Christian, have ETERNAL LIFE in us, God’s very LIFE; LIFE without beginning and end. We have the uncreated LIFE.

Jesus is telling us, I AM all a person needs for living the LIFE, it is not ME plus something. It is not Me plus your prayers, or your Bible study, or your service, or all you can do, because you will never produce a life that pleases ME. I AM the only LIFE that pleases Me.

See,… no one gets offended when your talking about separation from God, instead of Union with God. As long as it is God up there and us down here, He does things for us from up there it is okay. But when you start talking about Jesus and He does something for us, as us, things get touchy. People get nervous when you start touching them. In John 6, the people were perfectly satisfied with Jesus as long as He produced bread. The problem came when He said I AM the bread. How can this man give us His flesh to eat?

Jesus was telling the Jews, you are doing all the external things, but there is no LIFE in it. What is the opposite of LIFE?...Death!. This became so real to me at Faith Temple these past few months. In March as I prepared to write these very sermons I wrote an editorial in our monthly news letter. In my excitement I wrote that God is ready for spiritual awakening, another term for The Life, at Faith Temple, and that I was also, and that if you were not please leave. I had no Idea how upset this would make people. I mean what is the opposite of Spiritual Awakening, ..Spiritual death. If we are not operating out of LIFE, then we are operating out of Death. Yea, people are okay when its God up there and us down here. But a preacher starts talking about Christ in the man, oh he better watch out, people get made, they make comments like, oh I guess it’s his way or the highway, well, that what Jesus said.

Yes, If we are not operating out of LIFE, then we are operating out of Death..but, ..it does not look like death, because we often get results. I think that is another lie of the devil. “Results” Church programs get results, personal programs get results, in the seen and temporary realm below the line, and people are getting results. Jesus has a word for Christian trying to get results; it is “Enjoy Your Reward.” You want results; you’re getting results, well then enjoy your reward. Go ahead with it. But it is not of Me. It is not MY LIFE flowing through you.

Paul revealed the secret of Christ in us. He said to the Galatians, I live, but not really, Christ lives in me. It looks like me, but it is Christ. To the Colossians he wrote, It is Christ in you that is your hope of Glory. To the Philippians he proclaimed; For me to live is Christ. Who was doing the living? Jesus Christ was. But if we could look at Him, we would see Paul.

2 Cor. 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. These ambassadors were pleading, but who was really pleading? God was. He was making His plea through them. The words and the works came through Paul. But Paul knew he was not working up this concern for lost people, God was. God was in him making the appeal. It looked like Paul, but it was the indwelling Jesus Christ.

3) What does Jesus In Us Look Like

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, … and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
What did Jesus mean, Learn from Me? The Gospel of John has the answer. Jesus says over and over things like, I do nothing of my self, I only do what I see with the Father, I only speak what I hear from the Father, the works I do , they are not My works, they are the Father’s works, who dwells in Me.

When Jesus said “Learn from Me, He meant from how He lived. And how did He live. He lived out of the Father. He had no other secret. He did not have a Bible to read, He did not have a prayer group, He simply let the Father live through Him. He learned how to live off the resources of the Father, which are not of this temporary realm below the line. The resources of the Father are above the line, in the eternal realm.

Jesus could have said it this way. The Father is LIFE. Every statement He ever gave is a witness to this. God is LIFE! The Father was living His LIFE through Jesus. Jesus says, what you see when you look at Me is the Father in Me. We are ONE. The Father lived through Him as Him. Jesus was at rest in Him. Jesus was at rest all this time. The Jews were irate when they heard this.

The life of the Son was the Father, and the Life of the sons is the SON. So how do we live the LIFE? We learn to live it out of the Son and the Father. To learn to live out of the Son and the Father you have to know something. …Where the Son and the Father live. Where do they live…In US!

It is a miracle, it is absolutely amazing, I can not fully explain it, But it can be witnessed in the LIFE of one man, The Man Jesus Christ.

How do we live The LIFE? We don’t, because we can’t. For years this is where I lived, but I could not produce the LIFE of God. I could not bring the uncreated, Gods LIFE out of the creation, me. How was I ever going to do that? Well, as long as I saw myself as the source of LIFE I kept on trying. Then one day, Jesus said to me, I AM your LIFE. I AM the only One acceptable to the Father. I not only want to forgive you; I want to live the LIFE in you. I want to be your LIFE!

Look at Roman 6 one more time. Verse 7 says He who has died is free from sin. Most then usually skip to verse 11 in their focus and read, consider yourself to be dead to sin but alive to God in Jesus Christ. But I want you to focus on verse 10 for just a moment.
Romans 6:10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

The LIFE that Jesus lives,…. He lives to GOD! And where is Jesus? He is in us. Jesus in us lives His LIFE to God. He lives only to God. …We don’t have to try and live to God! He who lives in us lives to God. If we know that the old self is dead and out of the way, we can rest assured that the Person in us is going to live for the Glory of God. Jesus said; My food is to do the will of Him who sent me. That is who lives in you. His only desire and will is to do the Will of the Father. He lives in you and me, and HE will Do IT!

So let me bring all this to a conclusion.

We have really only 3 questions. Who is The LIFE? Where is the LIFE? And who am I?

When we get those settled, LIFE is easy. …
Who is The LIFE? Jesus is The LIFE.
Where is the LIFE.. Jesus lives in me.
And who am I?I am the vessel, a container of His LIFE, holy, righteous, and blameless in His sight.

If I know who life is and where the life is, I am free from trying to become something I was never meant to be. It is easy to be natural. It is hard to be unnatural, trying to produce the LIFE on our own, resulting in frustration, anger, desperation, till finally you give up. I did.
We are not meant to operate un-naturally. But if we know who we are, and who LIFE is, and where LIFE is, we can just be ourselves and let Him live it because no one has any trouble being themselves.

I pray you are on the verge of an I SEE moment. An I see now how to live the life moment. Let him live it. If so then I encourage you to count yourself dead. The old self dead. Count on it. Count yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus. He is the One in you that lives to God. Count on Him to be doing it moment by moment. By faith reckon yourself dead as your point of reference. You are holy and righteous and blameless in His sight. Christ in you is your point of reference. He is sufficient, always loving, and always living to the Father.

It is not our trying that releases Christ life through us. It is our trusting. Just say, Lord, Your Holy Spirit is showing me this truth. I embrace it by faith, just as I embraced Jesus for forgiveness of my sins. I now embrace Jesus in me as my LIFE. Teach me; convince me God, of this truth by the Holy Spirit, so that I will not be captive any longer to trying to produce the LIFE myself.

Conclusion:
Is it not good news to us to know that He did not just die for us, though that is great news, that He is with us, though that is great news, that He is in us helping us, though that is good news, but that HE IS In US, Living The LIFE! He has joined His Spirit with our spirit. In the eternal realm, above the line, there is Deity inside us. We are not Deity, but we are containers of that Deity.
A well of eternal life is springing up inside of us, within us. This LIFE is adequate, This LIFE is sufficient; This LIFE is never exhausted, never tires, never taste bitter. This LIFE is always light, always has mercy in it, always has a second chance in it, always carries God’s forgiveness toward others, and always is love.

When we recognize this, suddenly the ought-to’s and musts of the Devils frantic way of life become the “Be Still and be’ of God’s LIFE. The be still and be of His eternal presence. A dramatic change of our point of reference results.
Satin’s invitation to humanity was “you Become.” …And when we are playing in his game of must and ought-to, we are in the spotlight. Our performance is the center stage. But our new point of reference is the indwelling Jesus Christ. He has no part in the separation implied by must and ought. He lives in the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, where all simply is.
We are invited to let that be, and let Him come. We pray it all the time. It is time we meant it. They Kingdom Come, Thy will be dome, on earth, below the line, just as it is in Heaven, above the line. Christ in the man, God back in His Kingdom.